Amex (Non Surpass/Aspire) Platinum & Business CC

[Eric B]

GOVX has a $50 discount on oura ring for military, government, teachers, first responders, et al. I'm hoping it stacks with Black Friday and the $200 w/AMEX. We'll see tomorrow.

 

[Eric B]

Got the sizing kit.
The size 10 which was comfy in costco, in the morning, in-store, feels snug, later in the afternoon & the finger isn't too happy wearing it for even 10 minutes, leave alone 24/7...
Have a feeling the ring will sit in my drawer more often, than on my ring :-( ...

Did you order through Costco or online w/ouraring.com? I thought the credit was for purchases from ouraring direct only.

 

[mountainboy]

Did you order through Costco or online w/ouraring.com? I thought the credit was for purchases from ouraring direct only.

(all experience thus far is just with sizing kit)...
Will order oura ring tmrw, direct from oura website when 30% discount goes live..
TY!

 

[HuskerATL]

I tried to stack a vet discount with the Lululemo credit but Lululemon uses sheerID to verify your vet status but it fails. Reached out to sheerID, who I have never heard of, and they were worthless. They should use ID.me like everyone else

 

[mountainboy]

sheerID

your wife should be able to use her nurse status. same 15% discount.
Took minutes for someone I know, who used a similar discount...
Auto-applies to all orders incl final sales/clearance items (which you can return for Lulu credit)...
Nice...

 

[mountainboy]

GOVX has a $50 discount on oura ring for military, government, teachers, first responders, et al. I'm hoping it stacks with Black Friday and the $200 w/AMEX. We'll see tomorrow.

Pls be the DP you wish to see ...
Lulu Perks $40 off did NOT stack with Oura this morning (& per google search, these discounts don't stack but never know)..
Pls let us know..
249 for basic rings on Oura this morning + Tax - 200 Amex Platy credit = approx $70
My fingers don't seem to happy with the fake plastic ring & may be very unhappy with the real thing, so not sure if I should...
Decisions...

 

[Eric B]

Pls be the DP you wish to see ...
Lulu Perks $40 off did NOT stack with Oura this morning (& per google search, these discounts don't stack but never know)..
Pls let us know..
249 for basic rings on Oura this morning + Tax - 200 Amex Platy credit = approx $70
My fingers don't seem to happy with the fake plastic ring & may be very unhappy with the real thing, so not sure if I should...
Decisions...

Didn’t stack. Went with the cheapo $249 one anyway, but just the sizing kit for now. I figure I’ll wear it for a week before confirming the size to see how it feels longer term.

 

[HuskerATL]

your wife should be able to use her nurse status. same 15% discount.
Took minutes for someone I know, who used a similar discount...
Auto-applies to all orders incl final sales/clearance items (which you can return for Lulu credit)...
Nice...

I tried that also. The application with SheerID rejected it.

 

[mountainboy]

I tried that also. The application with SheerID rejected it.

? Email their support to fix...
Both of you, esp your wife, should be eligible...

 

[HuskerATL]

? Email their support to fix...
Both of you, esp your wife, should be eligible...

Tried. The sheerID folks were worthless and just said that it is up to Lululemon. Lululemon says it is sheerID. I wonder since Lululemon is struggling, this is a way to cut the discount without officially cutting it.

First response:
Thank you for contacting SheerID regarding your verification request for lululemon. I would be happy to provide further assistance.

After reviewing your submission, we're unable to approve your request. As a third-party verification service for lululemon, SheerID must adhere to the guidelines provided to us by lululemon.

For further information and assistance with verification, please contact lululemon directly. You can reach their Guest Education Centre at GEC-MFR@lululemon.com

We appreciate your understanding.

Kind regards,
Calvin
Sr. Verification Support
SheerID

Second response:

Thanks for contacting SheerID.

We were unable to process your verification request. While we can't offer further details or support for this specific inquiry, please ensure all information submitted is accurate and meets the eligibility criteria for future attempts. Your ticket has now been permanently closed.
Kind regards,
Calvin
Sr. Verification Support
SheerID

 

[mountainboy]

*Picked up Oura ring at local Best-buy (ordered from Oura website for free in-store pickup).
Looks decent & not too heavy...
Gold would have looked nicer than silver but it's not bad..
Feels a bit more comfortable than the fake plastic sizing ring (or maybe I have gotten used to the fake one for last 24 hrs or so)..
Happy with it so far...

 

[mountainboy]

*Oura Ring Tips for Ring Virgins like me:

1. Be careful swimming or taking gloves off: higher likelihood of the ring falling (losing etc)
2. Wear sizing kit for at least 24 hrs to see what is comfortable.
3. Fingers DO swell after a high sodium meal
3a. Don't panic if the ring gives you grief around chubby knuckles, esp after a high sodium meal; breathe; use usual tips for taking ring off, preferably after they have gone down in swelling.
3b. Ease into the ring for the 1st 24hrs; may take on/off a couple of times, so you are comfortable, esp if not a ring person. It took me a little getting used to, but love it now, esp for sleep wear (vs apple watch or garmin watch which I never wear at night)

TY!

 

[mountainboy]

*Massive news for those looking to get AmEx Platinum: Morgan Stanley Amex Platinum (MS AP) is now available to E-Trade customers also..

In the past one needed to have a fancier, much more expensive MS relationship before being eligible for MS AP.
MS AP allows one free AU (vs 195 for Vanilla AP), so this is nice..
Not sure if they will still allow the 895 relationship bonus for MS Platinum cash plus, 25k minimum balance (= no net annual fee for AP), although you lose the 4% interest on your 25k, so a wash (but with interest rates going down, may come out ahead, fwiw, esp with a free AU with MS AP)...
May look into it, for those interested.
I already have it so doesn't matter to me but hopefully helps many..
TY!

E*Trade Customers Are Now Eligible For American Express Platinum From Morgan Stanley

Trade customers are now eligible to sign up for the American Express Platinum card from Morgan Stanley, per this landing page. This makes it super easy for anyone to have that version of the AmEx…

www.doctorofcredit.com

https://www.bankrate.com/credit-cards/reviews/amex-platinum-without-paying-annual-fee/

 

[mountainboy]

*Received Oura Ring credit from Amex already!
(ordered 11/20, credit already in, nice!)

 

[Eric B]

*Received Oura Ring credit from Amex already!
(ordered 11/20, credit already in, nice!)

Same for mine.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

*Received Oura Ring credit from Amex already!
(ordered 11/20, credit already in, nice

Just checked and received my credit as well. I confirmed the size, so that's one Christmas gift taken care of. Had to exchange my Lululemon pants for a different size. The mall was crazy, but there was a Resy restaurant nearby, so I'm using up a lot of credits this week.

 

[mountainboy]

*Looks like Rakuten is giving 12x for Lulu, Saks etc, for those who use these extns (& plan to use your Lulu or Saks credit on Amex Platinum)......
TY!

Rakuten: 12x Back on Lululemon, Saks, Dell

Rakuten is offering 12x on World of Hyatt bookings, and at Lululemon, Dell, Saks and many more for Black Friday. Also: Ulta, Nike, Petco, PetSmart, Sam’s Club

www.doctorofcredit.com

 

[Zenichiro]

I’ll try this later this year, Bilt’s travel portal now flags some flights as “Direct Book,” where the charge goes straight to the airline, letting you earn normal card airfare rewards (like Amex Platinum 5×) while also picking up Bilt points, as long as you pay fully in cash and not with Bilt points.

The airline programs that both Amex Membership Rewards and Bilt Rewards transfer to are:

Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France/KLM Flying Blue, Avianca LifeMiles, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, and Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles.

Virgin Atlantic, Air Canada, and Avianca being my favorites.

 

[Eric B]

I’ll try this later this year, Bilt’s travel portal now flags some flights as “Direct Book,” where the charge goes straight to the airline, letting you earn normal card airfare rewards (like Amex Platinum 5×) while also picking up Bilt points, as long as you pay fully in cash and not with Bilt points.

The airline programs that both Amex Membership Rewards and Bilt Rewards transfer to are:

Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France/KLM Flying Blue, Avianca LifeMiles, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, and Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles.

Virgin Atlantic, Air Canada, and Avianca being my favorites.

I saw the articles about this a couple of weeks ago. Just made my first booking through Bilt with United. The keys to making it work are to avoid using the Bilt points towards the booking; if you apply any to the booking at all the Direct Book flag will go away and it will come through as a third-party booking.

Bilt points transfer to United but Amex don't. Given the value of Amex points for booking travel (a penny per point) plus the 35% back for having business platinum making them worth ~54% more, that makes the 5x Amex points worth about 7.7 cents, plus the Bilt > United miles worth about another 1.2 cents for a total of 8.9 cents in value for each dollar spent. That beats the 3x I'd get with my United Visa, which would wind up being 4 united miles per dollar spent or about 4.8 cents in value. Even if I don't spend the Amex points on United, it would be worth ~5 cents elsewhere plus the 1.2 cents worth of Bilt points transferred to United. I could probably find a circuitous way to transfer the Amex points to United but the value for me is in using them through Amex Travel instead.

Edited to add that the only hiccup I have with this is the need to use up my saved United Travel Bank before booking through Bilt. If they had some way to do that through the Bilt travel portal it would be fabulous but I don't really see that happening.

 

[Zenichiro]

I saw the articles about this a couple of weeks ago. Just made my first booking through Bilt with United. The keys to making it work are to avoid using the Bilt points towards the booking; if you apply any to the booking at all the Direct Book flag will go away and it will come through as a third-party booking.

Bilt points transfer to United but Amex don't. Given the value of Amex points for booking travel (a penny per point) plus the 35% back for having business platinum making them worth ~54% more, that makes the 5x Amex points worth about 7.7 cents, plus the Bilt > United miles worth about another 1.2 cents for a total of 8.9 cents in value for each dollar spent. That beats the 3x I'd get with my United Visa, which would wind up being 4 united miles per dollar spent or about 4.8 cents in value. Even if I don't spend the Amex points on United, it would be worth ~5 cents elsewhere plus the 1.2 cents worth of Bilt points transferred to United. I could probably find a circuitous way to transfer the Amex points to United but the value for me is in using them through Amex Travel instead.

Edited to add that the only hiccup I have with this is the need to use up my saved United Travel Bank before booking through Bilt. If they had some way to do that through the Bilt travel portal it would be fabulous but I don't really see that happening.

Yes, I plan to book United flights using a mix of TravelBank, the Bilt portal, and points or miles. I use Avianca LifeMiles frequently and have had the LifeMiles credit card for over a year, it has some solid perks when the right redemptions are available. Award availability through Avianca can be strange at times; I’ve seen weeks where United flights from my local airport to ORD are wide open while nonstop ORD options aren’t, and later in the year the opposite happens.

I also agree that Bilt seems underrated for cash bookings made directly with the airline and can offer strong value when paying with cash.

 

[Zenichiro]

I went ahead and did a speculative transfer to Virgin Atlantic during the 40% bonus. My daughter wants to go to Paris after she graduates high school, and I’m comfortable with the risk since I’m confident I’ll be able to use the points and they don’t expire. The bonus could come back, but it’s usually not this generous with Amex.

 

[ljmiii]

Edited to add that the only hiccup I have with this is the need to use up my saved United Travel Bank before booking through Bilt. If they had some way to do that through the Bilt travel portal it would be fabulous but I don't really see that happening.

Are you saying that having outstanding TravelBank funds breaks the process of getting the Bilt booking to be considered a Direct Book with United or that you just want to use up your TravelBank money?

 

[Eric B]

Are you saying that having outstanding TravelBank funds breaks the process of getting the Bilt booking to be considered a Direct Book with United or that you just want to use up your TravelBank money?

I’m just saying that you can’t use Travel Bank when booking through Bilt. You have to figure out the optimum time to use whatever you’ve accumulated against the value of getting the Bilt points. I have the ability to bank a lot from credit cards plus an old IHG card that gives me $25 every six months so I will be booking outside of Bilt about twice a year to use those funds.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

PSA: Don't forget to use your $150 Sapphire Reserve restaurant credit before the end of the year. We checked one city and we found only one ideal time between now and December 31; all other restaurants in the city had 9 PM seatings - not ideal. It's especially busy because of the holidays. You can make a reservation and cancel later.

 

[Eric B]

Just used our Sapphire Reserve StubHub credits. With the $150 credit, two tickets that would have cost us $45 each wound up only costing ~$10. Lesson learned for me is to never use StubHub except twice a year (x2 since we have two CSRs). It was actually tough finding something to use the credits for, too, but I'm cheap.